Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has called for urgent and unconditional return of Nigerian stolen assets stashed in foreign countries.

He made this call at the ongoing 10th session of the Conference of State Parties (COSP) to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), holding at the Georgia World Congress Centre, Atlanta, United States of America.

According to him, the return of stolen assets warehoused in foreign countries has become imperative for the growth of the economy and expansion of frontiers of development within and outside Nigeria.

He warned that economic and financial crimes have become transnational crimes and no nation serving as a custodian of stolen assets should hold on to them.

“We need the cooperation of all the countries that are custodians or in charge of warehousing all these stolen assets from Africa. It has become extremely important for us to see you as our collaborators, as countries that support us in the fight against corruption.”

Now, when you look at corruption, it has become a transnational crime.

“If you are holding on to those assets, you are creating very difficult legal hurdles in recovering those assets. You are indirectly encouraging the perpetrators of the crimes we are talking about. And when you encourage it in Africa, it has a tendency of affecting you too, because the kind of financial crimes we are talking about have become global in nature. So, it has become important for you to cooperate with us”, he said.